Frozen Kargarok, Anyone?
by ChocolateAntelope
Summary: WW One night as Link was experimenting with his fire and ice arrows, he discovered something very strange about the Kargaroks on Dragon Roost Island. Rated T for some violence.


Link yawned and glanced up at the night sky. He estimated that sunrise wouldn't be for another few hours. Of course, he could always change it to daytime, but he found out really quick from earlier experiences that jet-lag was not a fun feeling.

He was leaning over the rail that was by Dragon Roost's post office, staring at the starry sky until something in his peripheral vision moved. It was coming from the left, and it was making rustling sounds. Link turned to see what it was, but it was hard to tell in the dim light. So he got out Aryll's telescope and twisted it until the view grew large enough to see that it was...after straining to make out a shape he decided that it was a wild Kargarok. It had made a nest in one of the island's stone spires. In fact, the one closest to the post office. It was the one that he sometimes used for target practice during the daytime.

Then Link had an idea. He'd recently acquired the fire and ice arrows, and he had always wondered how roasted Kargarok tasted like. His idea was to roast it with a fire arrow and then glide over to the nest with the Deku leaf. So dipping an arrowhead in his store of magic, he nocked a fire arrow in his bow, and after making out the bird's shape through the bright fire coming from the arrow, he shot.

It was rather gruesome. Even from the distance he could hear the bird cawing in pain as its entire body was surrounded by flames, so he closed his eyes and waited for a "poof" sound. When he heard it, he opened them again to see it explode in a dark purple cloud. Its only remains were a green rupee. He went back inside the post office before anyone realized that he killed it.

_Guess that didn't work_, Link concluded. _Hmmm, why don't I just freeze it, capture it, and then bring it to grandma? That would work!_

Link crept out of the post office. Outside, he pulled out an ice arrow. Even without the magic on it, he could feel that was cold and tingly. So when he dipped it in magic, it started emitting icy wind and snow. He noticed that a new bird had come to replace the other one. He took aim, and fired.

It hit the side of the rock spire, with a sound like glass breaking. Upon impact, ice immediately covered part of the spire for a few moments before it broke off and splashed into the sea. Surprisingly, the Kargarok didn't move. _Ugh, I missed! Oh well, at least my target is still here_, Link thought.

This time, Link took meticulous aim, not wanting to risk his meal flying away. Then he shot again.

He hit his target. The bird was frozen. Then Link became very perplexed.

_What the heck is it doing?_ Something was...not right. From the distance he couldn't really tell what it was, so he dropped the bow and rummaged through his pack until he found the telescope. He trained it on the Kargarok just in time to see it... Break out of the ice and glide straight at him.

Link stood dumbfounded for a moment. He was sure he saw something out of the ordinary. The Kargarok was getting closer, but Link was sure that it wasn't going for him. He was still pondering what had happened. Besides, how would it know he shot it? Kargaroks were very dumb.

But soon Link was watching in horror as the bird came close enough that he could see crazed rage in its eyes. There was no mistake that it was going right for Link. Though he had to be impressed with its smooth glide from the nest all the way here.

"Ahh!" Link cried as the bird began to viciously peck at him. He ran and rolled away. _Aw man why didn't I think about butchering it right then? Then I could have roasted it on kabob sticks!_ Link checked himself for injuries. He was scratched, but fine. Then he noticed a large tear on his sleeve. "Okay, that's it! If I have to mend one more tear I'm gonna scream! Kargarok, you're going down!"

The bird returned back to its nest. Link got an extra cold arrow and shot. This time, as soon as he shot, he dropped his bow and picked up his telescope to look at the Kargarok. When he saw the spectacle, he nearly dropped his sister's telescope.

Sure enough, something strange was going on. Link could see that the bird was frozen in the air. It plopped back down, it's head craned up and it's wings spread out. The ice "sculpture" reminded him of a flowering plant. Then, it started...spinning.

_What the heck?!_ Link thought as he watched the bird spin round and round like a big rotating plant. _Why is it spinning? Is this normal?_ Then he saw that as it spun, it was starting to shake and quiver until it broke out of the ice and went for Link. Again.

It was really rather beautiful, the bird's glide. Too bad it was going right for him. Link quickly scooped up his bow and ran away. He waited for it to return to its nest. When it did, Link froze it again, and examined it with the telescope.

The results were almost identical to the last time. It froze in the air, fell to the nest, and started spinning like the Windfall Island Lighthouse light. Only this time the Kargarok spun much faster than before. Then on cue, the bird thawed out and flew at Link.

Roasted bird was the last thought on Link's mind now. He was so amazed at the spinning bird. He rolled away when the bird flew close to him. Confused, it went back to its home.

Link was starting to run out of magic, so he broke a few pots near the entrance of the post office. Luckily, one contained magic. As he poured it to his own store of magic, he realized that he had been attacking the same bird this whole time. _Shouldn't it be dead already? Whenever I shoot it with a normal arrow it goes down in one hit._

He equipped the Hero's Mask. He couldn't help feeling kind of stupid, standing outside in the cold night air, wearing a gold mask and rolling away like a defenseless wimp whenever a Kargarok came. He also had another idea. Instead of using the telescope, he would take pictures of it! He hoped Karlov the figurine man would take it.

As usual, the bird froze and spun as the ice engulfed the bird. Link, knowing he had limited space, took two good pictures of it. When it broke its ice shell, Link took a picture of it gliding. Then he waited. As it got closer, he saw into its heart. It was very, very close to dying. There was a sliver of red left on its health meter, but that was it. He ran away, and the bird, tired and freezing, flew back to its nest. When it was there, Link was just about to freeze it again when another arrow embedded itself in the bird's head. It died with a wail but didn't explode.

"NOOOOO!" Link cried before the feeling of surprise washed over him. Then he turned to see...

"Grandma?!" He screeched in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a ride from Beetle!" She shouted back, waving her bow and standing on the roof of Beetle's ship. They paddled closer to the spire with the dead bird. Beetle poked his head from inside the ship and yelled, "Ohhhh hello!"

"Anyway, I saw some wild Kargarok and I just had to get it! Link, would you be a dear and get it for Grandma?" Grandma requested.

"Um, okay." He was so shocked that he just decided to do his grandma's bidding. He changed the direction of the wind to the nest and flew there with the Deku leaf. Landing with a grunt, he hefted the Kargarok and shouted, "Now what?"

"Throw it to me!" She answered. Link was surprised. Was she gonna catch it or something? He hoped she wouldn't get hurt. With all his might he threw it to Grandma.

As it fell, he could tell that it was going to land short and fall in the water. But just in time Grandma threw out something and caught it.

"Wha-but-wait-hey! Th-that's my grappling hook!" Link stuttered. "And where did you get the bow and arrows?"

"You left your hero equipment in Grandma's house! And your wallet too! I asked Orca to teach me to use your stuff. Now I'm a pro! Oh, I bought the bow with your money, by the way. Hope you don't mind!" Grandma chuckled.

"Ugh," Link groaned. "Wait, why did you need the Kargarok?"

"Raw Kargarok guts are the secret ingredient in my soup," Grandma replied.

After a few stunned moments, Link exclaimed, "What?! You're kidding right?"

"No, I'm not. Besides, where did you think the spicy taste came from?"

From then on, Link only drank blue potions to heal injuries. Also, after much pleading and begging, Karlov also made a special figurine for "Frozen Kargarok". It spun. And its description was:

"Frozen Kargarok

Found: Dragon Roost Island

Frozen Kargarok are made from normal Kargaroks that have been hit by ice arrows. The birds seem to live forever. Recently, a 'permanent frost' option has been created to keep the birds frozen permanently. Their spinning have become popular and can be bought from Windfall Island's Joy Committee as a spinning pedestal statue."

Author's note: The whole "dipping arrows in magic" is my explanation for why they use up magic. And the spinning frozen bird thing was based on a real experience I had when I played Wind Waker. When I froze it, it spun and flew back at me. It never died!


End file.
